Ross McCormack will receive a pay-rise in the region of £1million per year if Aston Villa are promoted to the Premier League, reports Sky Sports.

McCormack, a £12million signing from Fulham two years ago, has been completely frozen out by manager Steve Bruce this season and hasn’t played a single minute in the Championship.

He enjoyed a successful loan spell out in Australia with Melbourne City during the first half of the campaign, finding the net 14 times in 17 appearances.

But Melbourne were unable to extend his loan deal until the end of the season and he returned to Villa in January.

Bruce has continued to overlook him and Villa will head into the Championship play-offs without the big money striker.

Sky report McCormack earns just under £2.3million per year at Villa, which equates to around £44,000 per week, and that he will automatically receive a pay-rise if the club earns promotion.

That will reportedly take his yearly earnings to more than £3million.

McCormack, who has two years remaining on his contract, was one of the club’s first signings under Dr Tony Xia and many of the Chinese owner’s recruits have been handed contracts packed with incentives to help the club achieve its goal.

McCormack's Villa story

He’s a £12million striker with a Championship scoring record few can match - but Ross McCormack has played no part in Aston Villa’s promotion tilt.

The Scottish striker arrived at Villa Park from Fulham - who Villa could yet meet in the play-offs - as Roberto Di Matteo’s marquee signing in 2016.

A summer of lavish spending saw Jonathan Kodjia, Albert Adomah, Mile Jedinak and James Chester all arrive at Villa, but it was McCormack’s signature which looked the most exciting on paper.

Where did it go wrong?

McCormack was going along steadily under Di Matteo, despite not hitting the heights he’d hoped for in his first few outings.

Goals against Huddersfield and Nottingham Forest arrived early to settle the nerves of Dr Tony Xia, who bankrolled the excessive fee for a player the wrong side of 30.

But the Italian’s sacking, and Steve Bruce’s arrival as manager, has seen McCormack fade away.

First of all, Bruce was never entirely happy with McCormack’s fitness levels and wanted a leaner, meaner forward to lead the line.

McCormack, meanwhile, insisted he was in as good - if not better - shape than he had been during previous goal-laden stints with Cardiff City, Leeds United and Fulham.

The pair were already at loggerheads before McCormack’s failure to turn up for training at Bodymoor Heath became public knowledge.

After the 2-2 draw with Preston at Villa Park last season, Bruce outed McCormack for missing training due to his ‘gates being stuck’.

What happened next?

A stand-off between Bruce and McCormack led to the striker joining Nottingham Forest on loan on transfer deadline day.

McCormack scored on his Forest debut but struggled to settle and returned to Villa last summer following just seven appearances at the City Ground.

Bruce and McCormack shook hands upon his return and agreed to put his previous misdemeanours to one side.

The Scot was handed a place on the plane to Portugal for Villa’s pre-season training camp whilst others were left behind. McCormack trained with the squad and took part in a few pre-season friendlies upon their return.

(Image: Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)

McCormack played against Kidderminster Harriers and Shrewsbury Town before being excluded from Villa’s squad which travelled out to Germany for the Cup of Traditions.

It was at that moment that his career at Villa Park appeared to be over under Bruce.

Bruce maintains he gave McCormack a fair chance in the summer but he wasn’t convinced the striker could play a part in their promotion push.

McCormack was frozen out of league duties completely but he was given two outings in the Carabao Cup against Wigan and Middlesbrough.

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Move Down Under & his return

After Boro knocked Villa out the cup McCormack’s first team hopes were completely extinguished. The opportunity arose for the striker to head Down Under with Melbourne City as an injury replacement signing.

McCormack plundered 14 goals in 17 outings for Melbourne and they were keen to extend his stay but were unable to with marquee signing Bruno Fornaroli fit to return.

The 31-year-old returned to Villa to learn that little had changed, despite his goal glut in Australia.

Bruce doesn’t want to upset the balance of his squad and gave McCormack time off upon his return.

McCormack can now be seen around the club’s training ground but he has no future under Bruce.